Salford Farm Machinery

Salford Farm Machinery Ltd. is a global manufacturer of innovative tillage and seeding equipment with manufacturing operations in Canada, the United States and Russia.

Designing cutting-edge farming technology that enhances yields and improves efficiency for clients across the agricultural sector, Salford Farm Machinery is carried by nearly 300 equipment dealerships across North America. To support this expansion, and to continue meeting the growing demand for Salford Farm Machinery products, the company added a secondary, American-based manufacturing facility in 2004, based in Osceola, Iowa. More recently Salford Farm Machinery initiated a joint-venture partnership to begin manufacturing in Russia as well.

Salford Farm Machinery has experienced growth in recent years because of its expansion into new markets, particularly with an international entry into Russia.

Farm land that had been managed by the government of the former U.S.S.R. has become privately owned and rejuvenated by investment. This new investment opened market opportunities for Salford Farm Machinery to expand into Russia as a provider of large scale, modern agricultural farming equipment. The scope of this expansion is that it has allowed the company to explore and access markets across Russia and Eastern Europe. Moving forward, further grow opportunities exist with greater expansion across Canada, the United States, and Eastern Europe.

Residue Tillage Specialist

2003 was a pivotal year for Salford Farm Machinery, perhaps best represented today by its home base in Salford, Ont., which has grown to more than 100,000 square feet. Salford Farm Machinery attributes its ability to grow to its Residue Tillage Specialist (RTS) product lineup. Replacing several tools with a single machine, the RTS “cuts and distributes crop residue while warming the soil to a shallow depth and releasing excess moisture to create an ideal seedbed.”

Salford Farm Machinery manufactures ploughs, cultivators, and a variety of agricultural equipment. The RTS was launched in 2003 and the demand for its product line has served as a growth stream for Salford Farm Machinery, even propelling the company into its international (United States and Russia) expansions. Salford Farm Machinery has also introduces a series of attachments available to the RTS, added tools that provide “new life” to an existing product but also bring light to new markets for the company.

“We have maintained our moldboard ploughs, whereas many other manufacturers have abandoned the product line,” Anson Boak, Marketing Coordinator with Salford Farm Machinery, told The Canadian Business Journal. “That has brought us some success in recent years, which has brought us some additional growth.“Part of our goal is to expand on the usefulness of our tools, even the current ones operating. The RTS has a lot of relevance to end users in many different applications, as opposed to buying a tool for a single purpose.”

Offering modern products and innovative solutions, Salford Farm Machinery meets the challenge of maintaining residue management and tillage goals. The agricultural sector demands modern, durable equipment and products to manage today’s farming conditions. Salford Farm Machinery has several other new products in a testing phase hoping to be released in 2013-14.

Notably, the goal moving forward is to maintain and continue building on the growth that the company has achieved in recent years. Salford Farm Machinery hopes to expand its new seeding line, believing that its greatest expansion opportunity lies in the United States.

“Compared to other industries, the agricultural industry is doing fairly well right now,” Boak summarized. “It is a good time to be in the agricultural business.”

Steady growth

An active participant at industry trade shows, this year Salford Farm Machinery will attend the Western Canada Farm Progress Show, hosted in Regina.

Attendance allows the company to stay in tune with brand awareness and to attract international customers who have an interest in the business.

Focusing on quality and innovation, Salford Farm Machinery engages with its staff and clients in always looking to improve its products. Boak commented, “By using more of a just-in-time manufacturing model, we are able to introduce changes to the models and product lines very quickly. We are not typically waiting for a new model year or any specific time to introduce product improvements, so it has kept us very in touch with end users and has built quite a bit of loyalty.

We try to implement user suggestions for a better product.

“It’s innovation based on our knowledge of product but also a farmer’s knowledge of their land and their needs.”